U2 Drum Tech Sam O'Sullivan

Drum tech Sam O'Sullivan gives AudioFile the blow-by-blow of Larry Mullen Jr.'s drum set and explains the cons of drums on a stadium tour.

Drum setup: Well, it's the same sort of setup he's been using for years. 24-inch bass drum, two 16-inch floors and a 14-inch rack. And we use this special Brady snare drum, which is an Australian drum. He's been using that size since 1989. It's only 12 inches by 7 inches across, but he gets a great whack off it. It's quite a basic setup. The Yamaha drums are fabulous. He's been with Yamaha for a long, long time. Over the years, quite a few snare drums have come our way from different companies, but he's always come back to the Yamaha Brady Snare. He uses it in the studio as well.

Cymbals, sticks, and mics: He uses Paiste cymbals. And of course, ProMark sticks. We stick with the same stuff. There is just one mic setup.

Arena vs. stadium: The good thing about this whole tour is that we're indoors. It's just great. The elements make a huge difference to drums, as they do to any instruments. Instruments do not like the weather changes all the time. The rain seems to follow us around. On the PopMart tour we used to have a kit on the B stage as well, which wasn't covered. So, more often than not it was completely soaked. Visually, it looked fantastic, when you hit the drums, the water would come up. It sounded awful. So I basically had to take the kit apart every night before I put it back in the box. So this is a dream, you know, to have the right environment. Everything is consistent.